Edenbridge, Saskatchewan, one of the largest and most important of Jewish agricultural colonies in Western Canada, this week celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of its existence. Over a thousand people participated in the celebration, which included a parade two miles long, headed by the original pioneers of the colony riding in ox-drawn carts.
Among the many greetings which the colony received on its silver Jubilee was one from the federal minister of agriculture, from the premier of the province of Saskatchewan, from the Immigration Commission, the Jewish Colonization Association (ICA) and from leading Jews.
This colony is regarded as a great achievement on the part of its Jewish pioneers, who were mostly Russian reemigrants from South Africa and garment workers from London who turned a far-away wilderness into one of the most flourishing agricultural regions in the Canadian northwest.
Despite the present agricultural depression in Canada, the Jewish farmers of Edenbridge are today quite optimistic and cheerful, and their crop prospects are fair, despite the general crop failure in Western Canada. The Edenbridge colony occupies about 13,500 acres, of which about 7,500 acres are cultivated. There are today 210 Jewish families in the colony.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.